Green beans stewed soft with potato, in a broth of tomato, onion and scallion. Not the crisp bright side dish of an American table: these are cooked down until they give way, and eaten over rice with a spoon.
It is weekday food, it costs almost nothing, and the potato does the work of thickening the pot.
Two words that stop foreign cooks
The ingredient list asks for triguisar and color, and neither exists under those names outside Colombia.
- Triguisar is a brand of seasoning blend, so common in Colombia that the brand became the word. It is mostly cumin, annatto, garlic and pepper.
- Color is powdered annatto, used for the yellow-orange tint rather than for flavour. Some brands sell it as achiote.
A pinch of cumin plus turmeric or annatto gets you to the same place. Neither is worth a special trip, and the dish works without them, it just comes out paler.
Potato or green plantain
The recipe offers both and they are not interchangeable in effect.
Potato breaks down at the edges and thickens the broth, which is what most households use. Green plantain holds its shape better, makes the dish heavier and brings a faint starchy sweetness. Neither is more correct; it depends what else is on the plate.
Why they are cooked so long
Forty-five minutes will alarm anyone used to blanching green beans for eight. It is deliberate.
Colombian habichuelas are a stew, not a side. The beans are meant to be soft enough to eat with a spoon alongside rice, and the long cooking is also what gets the potato tender and the broth thickened in the same pot. Beans cooked al dente here would sit oddly against everything around them.
If the time bothers you, a pressure cooker brings it down to about fifteen minutes and the result is the same.
Finishing it
A spoonful of hogao over the top at the end is common and turns it from a side into something more substantial. So does adding shredded meat, which makes it a full lunch rather than an accompaniment.
It is served over white rice, and the broth is meant to run into it.
Other beans and pulses
- Traditional Colombian beans — the Sunday pot, with pork and plantain.
- Stewed lentils — the same idea with lentils, and quicker.
- Ranchero beans — with smoked sausage in them.
- Colombian beans and pulses — which bean to buy abroad.
Habichuelas Guisadas FAQ
Triguisar is a Colombian seasoning blend, so widespread that the brand name became the everyday word for it. It is mostly cumin, annatto, garlic and pepper. Outside Colombia, a pinch of cumin with a little turmeric or annatto does the same job.
Powdered annatto, sold as color or achiote. It is used for the yellow-orange tint rather than for flavour, and the dish works perfectly well without it, just paler. Turmeric is the easiest substitute.
Because this is a stew, not a crisp side dish. The beans are meant to be soft enough to eat with a spoon over rice, and the same cooking time gets the potato tender and thickens the broth. A pressure cooker brings it down to about fifteen minutes.
Potato breaks down at the edges and thickens the broth, which is what most households use. Green plantain holds its shape, makes the dish heavier and adds a faint starchy sweetness. Both are correct.
Either. As it stands it is a side served over rice. Add shredded meat, or spoon hogao over the top, and it becomes lunch on its own.
📖 Recipe
Habichuelas Guisadas (Colombian Stewed Green Beans)
Imprimir Pin ComentarIngredients
- 1 lb green beans (topped and tailed, cut in half)
- 4 cups water
- 4 potatoes, or 2 green plantains (potato thickens the broth; green plantain makes it heartier and slightly sweet)
- ½ tomato, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped (the round bulb onion)
- 2 scallions, chopped (cebolla larga: not the same as the onion above)
- 1 bouillon cube (or a cup of the water replaced with stock)
- A pinch of triguisar or color (Colombian seasoning blends; use a pinch of cumin plus turmeric or annatto)
- Salt, to taste
Notas
Instructions
- Put the green beans in a medium saucepan with the water, the chopped tomato, the onion, the scallions, the bouillon cube, the triguisar and the salt. Bring to the boil and cook until the beans begin to soften.
- Peel the potatoes or green plantains, cut them into cubes and add them to the pot. Cook until they are tender and the broth has thickened.
- Take off the heat and serve straight away.
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